| Back in the very early days of the Disney studios, even before Mickey Mouse existed and the films were not talkies, Walt Disney teamed up with a group of animation uberlegends which included Ub Iwerks and Friz Freleng. They began producing short animations for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Oswald was the inspiration of Mickey Mouse. Mickey ended up wearing the big floppy shoes and the two-button trousers that were part os the Oswald character. Oswald helped the Disney studio get established with a steady income and exposure.
Oswald had a touch of the blackfaced minstrel from the burlesque houses. He was a combination of Mickey and Goofy in action. Walt separated the clownish actions into the Goofy character and the straight man was assigned to Mickey. The Disney crew churned out about two Oswald shorts a month. In 1927, The Jazz Singer was released, and the Disney studio jumped on the talkie bandwagon. | 
